Mission Botswana

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Thanks for visiting the Mission Botswana project page.

The dates we are planning for the trip are for two weeks in July 2017. We are currently awaiting confirmation of the actual dates from our Botswana hosts, and will be recruiting the team in October/November 2016.

Open Information Event

To find out more about Mission Botswana (and the other ICE Projects) and how you can get involved, please come to the Open Information Event held on the main campuses a follows:
Cambridge: Tuesday 18 October, 5pm in HEL114
Chelmsford: Thursday 20 October, 5pm in MAB103

Background

Mission Botswana works at the Resource Centre for the Blind in the small town of Mochudi, about a 45 minute drive north of Botswana's capital city, Gaborone.

The Centre is a residential home for the rehabilitation, resourcing, personal development and promotion of education of around 70 visually impaired and disabled children aged from about 3 to 16 years. They have that number again on a waiting list.

The Centre is over-populated in a series of old buildings. The buildings need ongoing maintenance, the resources need updating, and the staff wants our input into their development.

They have been given a new, flat site on which they plan to build a brand new, purpose-built Centre for the children. The Rotary Club of Gaborone introduced our University to the project as they had done some work with them previously. Therefore, in conjunction with Rotary, they have embarked upon the development of the new site that will be big enough to house all the children who require it, and develop the resources necessary for offering holistic care.

What we have done so far:

In 2014 the team the inaugural Mission Botswana team did two main things while there:

Construct the backbone of a covered vegetable garden on the new site, made from poles and wire, which has a three-fold use:
• To give practical and educational skills to the children in growing and caring for vegetables
• To have a sustainable source of vegetables for the Centre's kitchen.
• To sell surplus produce to create an income source.

Work with the children in the current Centre developing some sensory education aids and teaching programmes.

In 2015 the team were asked by the Centre to construct a new Sensory Room for the pre-school children. This was a great piece of work that has lasting value to the Centre. And apparently it’s the only Sensory Room in all of southern Africa. It was great to see the children’s and staff’s faces when they first encountered their new room and played in it for the very first time.

In 2016 the team worked on the main Centre’s accommodation and play areas. This was around arranging some maintenance on the covering of the play area, painting and repairing some of the surrounds, developing a new room as a sick bay, and redecorating a social space in the accommodation block.

Each of the trips has also incorporated a visit to the Baylor Institute (http://www.bipai.org/botswana/) to help mentor children who are HIV positive with their homework. This is a very rewarding time for our team.

Who we need for the next trip

As we’re not sure of the dates yet, we don’t know whether the children will be at the Centre, or away on their winter holiday break. The work is likely to be a mix of maintenance on the buildings, some mentoring with HIV children at the Baylor Institute on one day, some training of staff on cross-contamination protocols, and possibly the development of a borehole pump, pumphouse and water tank. You don’t need to be a skilled builder for any of these projects as those people will be on hand and we will learn from them.

A total team of 10 is what we are looking for.

What we hope to achieve

do something practical with people overseas who have less than us

to leave the school in a better state than we arrived

develop sustainable international relationships as well as genuine research opportunities

build on the success of Missions Croatia and Ukraine

give our students the opportunity to participate in life-changing experience which clearly links with our Employability Strategy, and helps to achieve our Corporate Plan

enhance our University's profile as being a stimulating and adventurous place to study

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